Expert’s Corner: Marcus Cooper on science of brown fat

By Bryan Goodchild

UMass Medical School Communications

July 07, 2014

New research published in the journal Cell helps to explain how brown fat burns energy, a promising discovery by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that could lead to therapeutics for weight loss and diabetes.

Brown fat, which is actually brown in color, burns regular or white fat as fuel to generate heat. The discovery of brown fat in adult humans is relatively recent, but scientists have known about its existence in animals for a long time.

In this expert’s corner video, UMass Medical School cardiologist and obesity researcher Marcus Cooper, MD, who was not involved in the study, explains the science behind brown fat.